Acetylene-gas generator.



T. G. ALLEN. AGETYLEN'E GAS GENERATOR.

. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 5, 1911.

1,079,972. W Patented Dec.2,1913.

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T. G. ALLEN. AGETYLENE GAS GENERATOR. APPLICATION FILED, DEC. 5, 1911.

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Patehted Dec.2,1913.

T. G. ALLEN. ACETYLENB GAS GENERATOR. APPLICATION FILED D130. 5, 1911.

W/ TNESSES.

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THOMAS GASKELL ALLn v, or wnsrivirnsirnn, tonnoivgn vennnn;

. AcnTYLnNn-eAs GENERATOR.

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To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS GAsKnLL AL- LEN,of 106 Victoria street, Westminster,

London, England, engineer, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in'o-r Relating to Acetylene-Gas Generators, of.

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to acetylene gas generators of the automatic typewherein a predetermined pressure of gas in the generating chamber actsupon the water supply to regulate the admission of water accordin to therequirements.

acetylene where liquid is added to material in the generating chamberfor producing the gas. The invention will, however, be hereinafterdescribed with reference to acetylene, the other uses being held to beincluded.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improvedconstruction of that 1 type of generator or water feedlng devlce;

described in my prior Patent No. 997,944.

The invention is particularly applicable to small generators, such asthose employed for lighting vehicles or for portable and domestic use,although the invention may be applied to larger plant.

According to this invention I provide for or in combination with thegenerating chambers of acetylene generators of the automatic type, awater feeding device consisting of flat surfaces lying in parallelplanes or a plurality of members having flat surfaces, brought and heldtogether in such close contact that the water can only seep or oozebetween them under water head or other pressure, said surface orsurfaces being of such dimensions as to provide an extended inlet toinsure a suflicient aggre gate of water feed and as to provide'an extended closure between the intake and discharge to hold a sealing filmof water against the back pressure of the gas under normal workingconditions. A water feed ing device thus constructed will permit asuflicient volume of water tofpassfor the purposes of generation, but insuch slowly moving and limited quantities at any given point that animmediate and exact regulation of the water feedlis effected; by the'slightest tendency to back pressure, with} out any appreciablespecification of LettersPatent. Application filed anatee, 1911. SerialNo. 664,025;

disturban caused in the equilibrium between h i 1 Patented Dec. 2*,1913'.

' posing internal and external pressures. 'Evenness'of generation and aunlform pressure at the burner are therebyinsured. Such water feedingdevice'holding a sealing film of waterfas described also serves toprevent the escape of the gas while permitting the requisite amountofwater to feed in. This sealing film of water is also very useful whenit is desired todiscontinue the generation of gas. The apparatusmay thenbe w thdrawn from the water, thereby stopping the water feed, whereuponthe water 1 film will continue to oppose the escape of The invention isobviously applicable for use in the generation of gases other than gasthrough the inlet although'the water head has been removed by suchwithdrawal, and the gas will continue to pass through the burner untilthe after make is exhausted.

The invention also gives facility for obtaining the different pressureswhich may be required by different burners ordiflierent apparatus merelyby increasing or decreasing the depth at which the water feeding deviceis immersed. The substantially high pressure required for a flare lightmay be readily obtained by increasing the head of water to which thewater feeding device is subject, a simple means to this end being theprovision of a watertank of suitable depth. Further means may beprovided for adjusting the position of the generating chamber tocompensate for the diminished head of water when a narrow waterreceptacle is employed.

The apparatus or that part of it which constitutes the generatingchamber may be of any suitable shape or size.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a number of constructions made inaccordance with this invention. r

Figure lis a. vertical section; and Fig. 2 is'al plan'of the improvedgenerator; Fig. 8

is a perspective view,: partly in section, of

another construction; Fig. 4 is a plan of Fig. 3 in section; Fig. 5 1sasectional perspective view of" a modified construction; Fig. 61s avertical section of another modi- 'ficatio-n; and 'Fig. 7-i's' asectional perspec-- tive view'of a further modified construction.

Fig. 8 is a view of a generator seated within its water containerapplied as a table In th 'e construction shown 1 and '2thegeneratingchamber. consists of a car- "bid'receptacle a and a cover I).Theset'wo partsare joined by flanges and d which :cdiistitute both. thewater feeding device and the closure for the generating chamber. Theflanges can'd d are clamped to gether by means of a bridge piece econtrolled by a winged nut f; the ends of the bridge piece are bent tothe shape of a claw bearing on the undersideof the flange (1' as at 9 sothat by rotation of the nut thev bridge piece is raised and the coverI;- ,pressed down thereby clamping the adjacent surfaces of the fiangesoand (Z together. In the Construction shown the gas pipe h is screweddirectly into the top of the cover Z) and the winged nut fis mounted'soas to. V rotate upon the end of the-pipe.

Suitable stops j jwill be provided on the inside of the cover toproperly centralize the same and guiding flanges 70 7c will be providedon the outside of the cover to insure that the bridge piece 6 iscorrectly placed in posisteady generation of gas and a steady flame aremaintained. The fiangesc andcZ are of the required dimension to. givethe automatic water feeding and closure effects referred to; Forexample, the circumference of the flanges is such as to provide the ex---tended inlet for water between them and the width between the innerand outer edges of the flanges insures thatth'e contacting surfaces willhold a sealing film of water against the back pressure of the gas iuidernormal working'conditions. v

a In the construction shown in Figs. 3 and a the water feeding deviceconsists of two flat surfaced, disks 0 and d inclosing between themanumber of intermediate disks 0, all the said disks are pierced in themiddle with coincident holes p which form athrough passage for the waterfrom the disks to the ca'rb-id chamber, which is suitably connected tothe lower. disk dc. Anysuitable means maybeprovided for clamping orholding the disks together and in contact the one with the other. In theconstruction illustrated in Fi-g. 3 this" is accomplished 'by fii'iingto the upper disk'a gas pipe h which leads to; the burner or burners,the lower the hole in the lower disk d and thereby serve as a meansfordrawing and holding the whole of thedisks tightly together. v Thescrew. thread on thegas pipe 72. is mutilated:

to. provide longitudinal channels orpassages b-ywhich the water oozingout froinj between the disks may pass down into the generating chamberwhere it is directed to the side of the chamber by means of a dis-"tributingpla-te [L which acts to prevent the water from accumulatingand fallin in "large drops. The holes in the intermediate disks 0 andthe end disk (Z may be square or otherwise so shaped as not to interferewith the passage of the water along the channels it. In thisconstruction the gen erating chamber is closed in any suitable mannerapart from the water feeding device and obviously the gas may ifrequired beled away by a pipe entirely separate from the water feedingdevice. The operation is similar to that given for Figs. 1 and 2. Thewater in this case seeps or oozes between the contacting flat surfacesof the disks 0 d and o, and so passes into the central aperture and downby the channels it" into the generating chamber. The pressure ofgenerated gas reacts on the oozing discharge of water, as beforedescribed. The disks 0, d and 0 are of the required dimensions to givethe automatic water feeding and controlling effects referred to, forexample, the circumference of the disks is such to provide the extendedinlet for the water between the disks, and the distance of the centralholes from the periphery insures that the contacting surfaces of thedisks will hold a sealing film of water against the back pressure of thegas under normal working conditions. In Fig. 3 a

number of disks o are shown clamped between the disks 0 and (Z, and asthe number of these disks is increased or lessened, so

the capacity of the water feed is increased or lessened, and in somecases where the demand on the generator is limited, the iiiterniediatedisks 0 may be omitted, the disks 0 and (i being clamped one against theother. In Fig. 3 the water enters between the disks by the outer edgeand oozes out at the central aperture. This arrangement may however bereversed as shown in Fig. 5 where the water enters at the central holeand discharges around the edge of the disks into the cal-bid chamber. Inthis figure the intermediate disks are omitted. The operation is asalready described.

Fig. 6 shows a construction. where th'ewater feeding device consists ofthree disks 0 'd and '0 disposed at the base of the generating chamber.The "said disks are clamped together in suitable manner as by wing nutsand bolts i. Only the two upper disks are v pierced with holes 0. Theoperation is as "end of the. pipe It is adapted to screw intobeforedescribed except that the water oozes into the bottom of the vessel andattacks the carb id upwardly. the top. by a pipe ,k. A deflecting platem may be provided if required to direct to the side of the chamber anycondensation from th aein the outl t pipe h.

The gas is led away from Should it be required to previ ae a waterfeeding device adapted to be put out of action by other means thanremoval from the water or by closing the gas pipe, then this can beaccomplished as shown for example in Fig. 7, by employing two disks 0and d clamped together by the aid of a screw device adapted to be partlyrotated by turning around the upper or burner carrying part 9. Thesurfaces of the flanged members c and (Z will be machined or polished sothat by rotating the burner part 9 and thereby clamping the diskstightly together such a tight joint will be secured that no water canpass, while by a part rotation of the part 9 in the opposite direction,preferably determined accurately by a slot and stop pin such as q, thesurfaces of the disks may be moved such a minute distance apart as willenable them to operate as a water feeding device and closure in themanner hereinbefore described.

If required, as for example in the case of a large plant, I may providea number of generating chambers such as described,

adapted to be immersed in a suitable tank and suitably connected to thedischarge or storage gasometer or the like.

Heretofore in this specification it has been stated that the surfacesconstituting the wa ter feeding device are adapted to be brought andheld together in such close contact that the water can only seep or oozeinto the generating chamber under a pressure of water head. Suchholding'together causes a contact between the said surfaces as follows,to wit: In the employment of ordinary metal surfaces produced by rollingor stamping, a contact between them will be in such a relation as willcause the said surfaces to touch at innumerable points and to become inapposition at all points Without sensible intervening space but stillpermitting Water to seep or ooze through such spaces under pressure ofwater head or its equivalent, due to the slight inequalities of thesurface so produced. Obviously the extended inlet having this minutethickness may be provided by other means than those de- Copies of thispatent may be obtained for scribed, within the limits of the appendedclaims, for example machined or polished surfaces may be brought intosuch close relation as to produce an equivalent effect. Further theWater feeding "pressure may be obtained or supplemented by other meansthan water head, such as pressure of air or other fluid, upon the water.

It is to be understoodthat the flat surfaces of the water feeding devicemay be disposed in other than horizontal positions, for example, theymay be in vertical or inclined positions.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. An acetylenegenerator comprising a generator chamber, a water feed device, and meansfor subjecting said water feed device to water pressure, said water feeddevice comprising flat surfaces in contact and pressed togetherconstituting a restricted water inlet between them, the line ofoutermost contact of the flat surfaces when the device is in use beingdirectly exposed to the body of water in which the device is submerged.

2. An acetylene generator comprlsing a generator chamber, a water feeddevice, and means for subjecting said water feed device to Waterpressure, said water feed device comprising fiat surfaces having anaperture in their mid-area constituting a restricted water inlet betweenthem, one end of said aperture leading to a burner, and the other sideof said aperture communicating with the generating chamber, the line ofoutermost contact of the flat surfaces when the device is in use beingdirectly exposed to the body of Water in which the device is submerged.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

THOMAS GASKELL ALLEN.

Witnesses:

ROBERT MILTON SPEARPOINT, C. P.'LIDDON.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). G.

